Survivor Stories

Sophie Klisman

Sophie Teich Klisman was born in Lodz, Poland in 1929. After the Nazis invaded Poland, Sophie and her family were sent to live in the ghetto, where her parents and one of her siblings fell sick and died. When the Lodz ghetto was liquidated in 1944, Sophie and her surviving siblings were deported in boxcars to Auschwitz. Sophie survived selection in the camp by lying about her age. Sophie and her sister were sent to Bergen-Belsen, then to the Salzwedel concentration camp, where they were forced to work in an ammunition factory. Sophie and her sister were liberated by American troops in April 1945. They lived in Displaced Persons Camps until they were able to travel to the United States in 1949.

“Nobody, nobody should have to live through such terrors, such horrible conditions at such a young age, or at any age. It was a horrible experience, but I’m glad that I finally was able to tell it.”

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